Harwood Staff Blog Update - March 10, 2022

Team -

Thank you all for holding and creating brave space in so many different ways.

Whether it be reflecting by:

• speaking up to Laurie, Meg or Duane to share your concerns and hopes

• supporting students and each other through the many pivots brought on by COVID including the masking choice ahead of us

• making a DCF report after a student shared a confidential & incredibly challenging reality and supporting them throughout

• supporting students in understanding and considering the many nuances of the invasion of Ukraine 

• supporting student facilitators in inviting their peers into a dialogue to consider how we can collectively create a community where all feel seen, heard, respected and understood.

With ongoing gratitude and partnership,

Meg, Laurie and Duane     

 

Calendar:

• 03/12 - Jr. Iron Chef competition 

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Appreciations:

Staff Member	Appreciations
Mari Pratt	For taking the time to clean the kitchen area in the staff room
Jane Regan	For creating lessons that support students in considering our bias’ in history
Kevin Quigley	For providing insight and perspective into the invasion of Ukraine
Jeannie	For keeping a million different balls in the air as you welcome 2 new students to Harwood in need of intense supports
Tara Cariano	For being someone who students feel safe coming to and seeking support
Jen Dreimiller	For providing stability and care for students in crisis

Safe - seen, heard, respected & understood:

Topics	Information/Links
Mask Optional Pivot	As we support our community in the shift to optional masks as of Monday, March 14th let’s all work together and respect the decision of each individual.  Please seek the expertise of Phil and Magge, our incredible Nursing staff with any health related questions.
Health Office Updates	Staff assurance testing program: The health office has rapid antigen tests available each week for staff to take. We will continue to hand them out weekly until the AOE phases out the program.  Vision Screening: We are starting vision screening during TA next week. An email went out to 7th and 9th grade TA teachers to schedule. Masks: KN-95 masks will continue to be available to students and staff. Please stop by the health office if you need them.  A note about upcoming COVID protocol changes: New guidance came out today. Please check your email if you haven’t seen that communication yet. Please feel free to reach out and ask any questions that you might have. We encourage you to have students with concerns reach out to us as well.
Project Kratos Update    Detention Update	Kratos update  (link to working document:  Kratos)  Presence - All administration and Staff will become more present with holding students accountable as well as physically present during identified transitions during and after the school day.   Student Support Staff continue to be a presence in the hallways during transition times.  We will continue to work on improving  our time spent in our assigned areas when possible.  After School Duty calendar is set and followed for administrators (see link in Kratos document)  Perseverance - Reported and encountered behavioral issues will be addressed in a simple and achievable manner.   We continue to meet as a student support team on a weekly basis to review/adjust our programming to ensure we are creating a safe environment for our community.   We continue to track discipline infractions, following up on concerns when presented.   See information below.   When we receive a student complaint or concern we task a member of our student support team to conduct an intake on what the follow-process should be.   Plan implementation review and adjustment - Weekly reviews and adjustment based on feedback (formal and informal) will guide our forward progress. We continue to hold our weekly Friday morning meetings beginning around 7:45 in the library as a place where staff can create, connect and be curious about how things are going in general.  Detention Update This past week we connected (email and/or phone calls) with families/students regarding behavioral/attendance issues which resulted in afterschool detention for many.  Please note we schedule detentions based on students/grouping and other issues (students who can’t be together, etc) Going forward we will send out notices to students/families who fail to attend these afterschool detentions informing them if they miss 2 consecutive afterschool detentions they will receive a out of school suspension on the Thursday after their 2nd miss.         Discipline Consequence  Update High School  Suspension issues and served  3 Not following safety plans, sending inappropriate messages to other students and refusal of reasonable request.  Current Hazing, Harassment, Bullying investigations in process 3 The student support team is following a well articulated process for conducting and determining whether or not an offense occurred with appropriate remedies offered and followed  Detentions issued and served  12 issued  - 5 served  Detentions were issued for late/skipping class Middle School  Suspension issues and served  0  Detentions issued and served  8 Students will serve detention on Friday for being late to class  and one for acting out in class and the rest are for refusals

Rigorous & Robust Academic Program:

Topics

Information/Links

End of Year Reflection

When: May 12 and May 18th; 3:30-7:00 PM Where:  In person or through zoom  Students will share the following with their parent/caregiver Reflection on their goal Summary of skills developed this year A look forward to next year and beyond Optional Presentation of Learning (share something they are particularly proud of this year)   How will we prepare? Between March and May we will periodically review goal progress and begin to gather “evidence” to reflect on their progress. The purpose and plan for EOYR will be introduced in TA in March During the month of April we will introduce the planning agenda and support students to prepare for the conference Early May students will have time to do a practice run with their TA group or TA teacher.   Feel free to review this one-page description along with a link to a resource underscoring the power of reflection in learning.

Positive school climate and culture:

Topics	Information/Links
Adaptive Scheduler Reminder for Attendance ​​	A reminder to staff about attendance in Adaptive Scheduler (ELO and FLEX):   When you first look at your roster in Adaptive Scheduler, please note that the (present) listed there by default will NOT be recorded as Present in PowerSchool. You need to use the drop down list to choose the P (Present) for each student so that it is properly recorded in PowerSchool.     (We do have a support ticket in to try to make this match your regular class rosters but that's still in the works)   Thanks for your help with this!    *And speaking of attendance - just a reminder that all student attendance questions/concerns/emails should go to Yvette. April does not do student attendance. Thank you!
Assembly Update	When:  Tuesday 03/15 @ 11 a.m.  Where:  Auditorium  Details: We’ll be in person!
Scheduling	A friendly reminder to please take 15 minutes to complete this survey in order to provide your reflections and feedback on our schedule and inform how we move forward to next year. Please complete by March 16th.
FY 23’ Hiring Update	We have started the FY 23’ hiring season with many applicants and much success!   The following positions hired after July 1, 2021 have been filled and the following staff will thankfully be returning next year   Social Studies Teacher - Phil Stetson Nurse - Magge Stone 504 Coordinator - Allie O’Hara   Updates from this week - applications are pouring in for the following positions Special Educator -  this is a rolling process given that we are looking for more than 1 position.  Interviews have begun and are continuing next week including some 2nd round Social Worker - Interviews scheduled   Director of School Counseling - 2nd round/onsite interview  Drivers Education - Interviews scheduled and have begun
	Hannah's House is sponsoring a Reiki Restorative Yoga class AGAIN at Mountain Rose on Thursday, March 17th at 6pm for HUUSD employees.  It filled up fast last time so don’t delay!   This is a 1 1/2 hour Reiki Restorative Yoga class taught by Ana del Rosal collaborating with Angie Andrews who will be offering Reiki. This is a gentle yoga class with long held poses to nourish the body, mind and spirit. We will be using bolsters and props to allow your body to relax deeply and drop into a place of healing. Angie will be offering Reiki during class. Reiki is the channeling of universal healing energy. It is deeply relaxing and promotes feelings of peace and harmony. This in turn allows the body to tap into its own innate ability to heal. Most people report experiencing deep relaxation and shifts in stuck energy after receiving Reiki. This amazing duo of yoga and reiki can help you feel refreshed, relax the nervous system and allow you to sleep better, increase the feeling of calmness and centeredness.   This class is on a first come first serve basis. Please email Ana at ana@mountainrosevt.com to sign up. Class is limited to 12 people.
CONGRATULATIONS to Ava Thurston wins Junior National 5k Nordic Ski